At Palomar College some students had a tough time dealing with the intense heat and sunshine of this current weather pattern. Lupe Ambriz, an architeture student at Palomar College holds a book up to his face to shield him from the glare of the sun as he made his way to class on campus Monday afternoon. — John Gastaldo

At Palomar College some students had a tough time dealing with the intense heat and sunshine of this current weather pattern. Lupe Ambriz, an architeture student at Palomar College holds a book up to his face to shield him from the glare of the sun as he made his way to class on campus Monday afternoon.
— John Gastaldo

What about you?

Tell us how the high temperatures are affecting you. Please include your name and location with your comment.

Even as the sun rose Monday morning in San Diego County, the temperature was rising.— John Gibbins

Even as the sun rose Monday morning in San Diego County, the temperature was rising.
— John Gibbins

The coast of San Diego County was hotter today than it has been at anytime since September 1963, when John F. Kennedy was president. Temperatures spiked to 109 at Camp Pendleton, 107 degrees at Torrey Pines, 106 at Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma and 104 in Del Mar, the National Weather Service says.

"It was like the Anza Borrego desert moved to the coast," said Rob Balfour, a forecaster at the National Weather Service.

A chain reaction of atmospheric events (explained below) also sent temperatures soaring across inland valleys, foothills, mountains, and in the low desert. The 112 reading at Rancho Bernardo was only one degree cooler than the 113 in Los Angeles, which reported the highest temperature in the city's history.

Forecasters say the temperature didn’t come close to breaking a record at Lindbergh Field, which is the official reporting station for San Diego. Lindbergh reported a high of 95, which is nine degrees below the record for Sept. 27th.

But the weather service said Lindbergh was a bit of anomaly along the coast. Columns of warm, hot air spread across the rest of the San Diego area, hitting 102 at North Island and 106 at the Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma. That made Monday the hottest day in the San Diego area, and along the county's coast, in almost 50 years.

There was also some interesting variance in the numbers. Cabrillo National Monument was 11 degrees hotter than Lindbergh Field, which isn’t far away. Forecasters say a relatively cool wind out of the south streamed across the airport while a mass of much warmer air flowed offshore at Cabrillo, where the thermometer is located at an altitude of roughly 350 feet.

Here's a snap shot of today's local highs, and a look at the records that were set:

Highest temperatures:

Rancho Bernardo: 112

San Pasqual Valley: 112

Santee: 111

Escondido: 110

Poway: 110

San Marcos: 109

Fallbrook: 109

El Cajon: 109

Camp Pendleton: 109

Borrego Springs: 108

Ramona Airport: 108

Torrey Pines: 107

Vista: 107

Cabrillo National Monument: 106

Del Mar: 104

North Island: 102

Records: The 108 reading in Ramona was 8 degrees higher than the previous record for Sept. 27th, set in 1978. The 107 in Vista was 2 degrees higher than the previous record, set in 1963. The 109 in El Cajon was 9 degrees higher than the date's previous record, set in 1993. The 108 in Borrego Springs was a degree higher than the previous record, set in 1999. And the 89 at Palomar Mountain was a degree higher than the previous record, set in 1968.

Brandt Maxwell, a weather service forecaster, said the extraordinary temperatures at and near the coast were caused by a chain reaction that began late last week.

A high pressure system settled over parts of the Great Basin (Nevada, Utah), causing warm, dry air to flow offshore. Such air is usually drawn toward low pressure in the Imperial Valley.

But the low pressure shifted offshore to the Channel Islands. This caused the offshore flow of wind and air to travel to the coast, and beyond. Temperatures soared at the coast.

The hot offshore flow also had time to become unusually large and to sink almost to the surface. At 4 a.m. Monday, the temperature was 95 degrees just a few hundred feet over San Diego. There’s typically a lot less hot air, and it stays about 1,500 feet high overnight.

“Monday’s conditions were more typically of late summer, when you have hot offshore flow, low humidity and little wind,” said Brandt Maxwell, a forecaster at the National Weather Service.